Hey y'all, I'm Sam and I'm fairly new to RES care. My older brother has kept his turtle living in total squalor for the past ~5 years and recently found out his new apartment won't allow him to have any pets, so I'll be taking it off his hands as soon as I have a totally new tank set up for it. I have done a bit of on and off research for proper care over the years and always intended to take the turtle from him so I am at the very least aware of basic habitat needs (lighting, basking area, heater, size of water area, heavy duty filter, etc)

I'll probably be posting questions frequently in the coming weeks as I gather up supplies before crossing state lines to go pick it up. I'm currently planning to get the Zoo Med 40-gal habitat kit (36" x 18" x 18") and then make adjustments as needed but the kit I checked out in-store seems to have a much better filter than the one shown on the zoomed website. In any case, any advice for lighting setups, light timers, and especially feeding is greatly appreciated! I want this poor turtle to finally have a great life.

I spent the majority of today just browsing through one of the forums here for above-tank basking areas and will likely have a lot of questions regarding that if the method I have in mind for an in-tank area ends up taking up too much space.

Most of those kit habitat's will be inadequate and you wil be cleaning every 3-5 days only getting frustrated ! What sex is the turtle will help on setup size and what is the shells length ? Glass tanks are nice to look at but you can get a stock tank for 1/5th the cost and a much lager size to do a lot more with it making it look great ! Most kit filters are undersized and turtles being messy need 2-4x's flow depending on its size to keep a clean and healthy water area. Also for easier control of water and room to swim a turtle should have for every inch of shell 10 gallons water alone ! A 4" turtle that's 40 gallons water alone ! We have a lot of long time turtles keepers here that can offer advice. Read all informational stickies at each topic will help and any comments that go with them.

PS : What setup you are looking at... post link , please. I looked at the 40 gallon reptihabitat aquatic turtle kit and the video ! It's a Very "Basic kit" and does not come with a filter ! If that's it , you may want to watch that video again. It recommends other things like the turtle clean 50 in video and that will not do the job for a turtle ! The screen top blocks UVB rays ! You can do much better with a used tank and put money saved to a better filter just a thought. Also what they call "large" dock is only 18"x9".

Last edited by litefoot on Thu Jun 29, 2017 11:30 am, edited 1 time in total.

I believe the turtle is female from what I remember (haven't seen her in a few months but I could be wrong) and I should be getting her measurements soon. If I had to take a guess I'd say she's probably 5-6" by now and I will probably do an above-tank basking area to give her as much space as I can.

The filter that comes with the kit in-store is the Zoo Med 511 external canister rated up to 60 gallons but if I find that it requires too much cleaning I'll be upgrading to a larger one and probably run double since I know she's notorious for producing tons of waste. Space in this house is very limited so I'm unfortunately not able to go as big as I would like right now but I haven't bought the tank yet since I'm waiting for one of my siblings to send me her measurements. I'll be sure to check out all the topics over the next few weeks as I'm gathering up supplies!

Based on tank measurements (36x18x18), if I do an ATBA I'll have about 50 gallons in the tank but if her measurements come back as more than 5-6" I will most likely go with a bigger tank and get supplies separate instead of going with the kit

Be careful , make sure on filters included , some sites to show cheaper price and only offer those basic kit's with no filter. The zoomed site has a 40g kit with no filter it's an extra buy. And yes "511" you will be cleaning every 4 days not enough flow for turtle !!! Maybe it could be used as a backup if every needed ?

Ok I'll be sure to check out better filters! Thanks very much for the advice, I remember having to do weekly water changes on that turtle back in 2010 and it was an absolute nightmare. If that's the case then I will likely look into a bigger tank and better filter rather than even bothering with the expensive kit.

Shop around for sales , that way you can get exactly what you need and not waste money on an expensive kit with useless stuff. Watch for $1 a gallon sales on tanks. Even ask a pet shop for tanks they change out , normally you can get them dirt cheap. Mom and Pop shops are best for that.

I think I just missed out on petco's dollar sale but I'm definitely going to be looking for sales. Today I plan on hitting up a more local pet store and I think I have a relative getting rid of some tanks. I didn't know I could ask about old display tanks they're switching out so I'll ask about that today while one there!

Question about filters since that's what I'm looking at right now. My local store has a Fluval Fx6 (400 gallon) for $250 and online I see Fluval Fx4 (250 gal) for $242. Is it worth it to get the Fx6 since its more powerful and nearly the same price for a tank that will likely be in the 75-90 range or will it be too much? I know bigger is better but having it rated that high almost worries me.

Go for the FX6 at that price ! If you think once setup flow to much you can play with the diffuser even remove it for open pipe as I do. If push comes to shove you can crank it down some on the outlet valve. Just never restrict it by turning down the inlet side as with any filter always the "outlet" side. I have one and its great !!! Last filter you will need and the best even if you upgrade to a 125 gallon , you will have a great filter for it to !You can never have too much flow for a turtle , it's how you setup the diffuser for what you want.

Ok great! Then I'll probably snatch that up as soon as I can afford it. Thankfully everything in the reptiles and fish section looks dusty which means nobody is buying that stuff so it should sit on the shelf for a while. I'm not sure what you mean by diffuser and all that but I'll figure that all out later. Thanks so much for all the advice so far.

Sorry mean the return nozzle ! Before you make finally cut on the water hose I would play with the nozzle. Some say to strong but as stated you can crank the filter down some and most forget that. The nozzle has two directional diffusers for different flow patterns. You can pop them off and get a different effect. you can cut a 2 - 2" pieces of hose and stick on it and get another effect for more even flow. Remove the nozzle completely and yet another. Make you own spray bar , yet another effect. Above water line or below with or without nozzle , all kind of effect and water flow. Play with it to get what you need and or want before any final cut. Some just stick it in the water and are never happy , as I said take you time and play with it , you will see the different looks and flows you can create. I found this to be true with any outlet ( hose) type filter , be creative !